The farm gate price of a kilo of palay continued to rise in January, according to data released Wednesday by the Philippine Statistics Authority, which is a boon for farmers but a bane for rice consumers.
Local output growth measured as the gross domestic product (GDP) is forecast to ease further this year to 5.4 percent, lower than last year's growth print of 5.6 percent, analysts at the Manila unit of the Dutch giant ING said on Monday.
The government already spent in 11 months P1.02 trillion of its commitment to spend P1.33 trillion in various public infrastructures in 2023, Budget Secretary Mina F. Pangandaman said on Sunday.
Foreign investments approved by various investment promotions agencies reached P394.45 billion in the fourth quarter, more than double the P173.61 billion in the year-earlier period even though a number of IPAs didn’t report any approvals during the period.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on Saturday warned retailers against hoarding essential goods and engaging in profiteering, saying such illegal practices will not be tolerated as global tensions threaten to drive up oil prices and logistics costs.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) launched a major regional development initiative on Thursday, with Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. personally overseeing the distribution of over P65 million in agricultural interventions to local farmers and fisherfolk in this town widely recognized as the “rice granary of Albay.”
The Department of Agriculture has imposed a temporary ban on the importation of domestic and wild birds—and their products—from Indiana following confirmed outbreaks of the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza strain.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has received the 2026 “Reserve Manager” award from Central Banking, recognizing the Philippine central bank’s improvements in handling the country’s foreign currency reserves.